Computer systems include functionality to execute many different applications. One particular type of application is a pseudo-world application. A pseudo-world application presents a pseudo-world to a user. In a general sense, a pseudo-world is a simulated environment that may have certain characteristics of the real world. Specifically, while the real world has various physical things, such as physical inanimate objects, beings that live and die (e.g., plants, animals, people), and environmental conditions that cannot entirely be controlled, the pseudo-world provides a controlled simulation of the real world.
A creator of a pseudo-world may seek to replicate the interaction that an individual has with the real world. For example, rather than a user moving an item in a two dimensional (2D) space, a pseudo-world allows the user to interact in a three dimensional (3D) space. A user may scroll right and left, up and down, and in and out, or a combination thereof in the pseudo-world. Moreover, a pseudo-world may include imitations of different physical things common to the real world. For example, the pseudo-world may have graphical 3D images that appear as trees, animals, buildings, rooms, and other such things common to the real world. The pseudo-world may also have imitations of people-type beings called avatars. An avatar is a manifestation of a living being in the pseudo-world. At least a portion of the avatars in the pseudo-world may represent users. The avatar may or may not have the likeness of the user and may or may not even appear human. Through avatars, users may communicate with each other and the data on the computer. For example, one user's avatar may move to the region in which another user's avatar is located in the pseudo-world. Each user may control his or her avatar's communication with the other avatar in the pseudo-world. Thus, through the avatars, the users communicate with each other.
Different techniques are used to create pseudo-worlds. In one technique, the objects in the pseudo-world are managed in a database. Specifically, each record in a database table may correspond to an object in the pseudo-world. Specifically, a record defines the properties of an object. The records may include references to other records to define associations between objects.
Another technique is to have the entire pseudo-world including all objects in programming language instructions. The code must be modified to change the pseudo-world. Portions of the code corresponding to the objects in the pseudo-world may be commented out to remove the objects. In particular, comment indicators are added so that the portion corresponding to the removed objects is not executed.